New Collaboration

I'm very excited to announce that this blog will be home to a year long collaboration with a colleague of mine starting this month! Please welcome Kim with Hara Studio to this space. Each month we will share tips and insights on different subjects for you in your daily life. The hope is that you will find new and useful perspectives, information, and straightforward tools. Please keep an eye out for the first post coming soon, and share these posts with anyone you think might be interested. Namaste

Remember Love

Still morning cool, with the kestrel kee-kee-keeing over the field. Harrier on the fence post far down by the pond, I watch your flight from post to top of cedar to post and I feel your wing beats bring air to my lungs. I exhale and lift you to another post.   Feathers, beak, talons. Skin, hands, feet. Earth, fire, water, air. I am not a bird, just as you are not a human. Yet, I am you, you are me. There is no you, there is no me. Remember Love.  

Sliding Out of Sync…and Getting Back

I don’t know what it is about some mornings, but I wake up and everything feels good, in sync…then as I’m going about my business, somewhere along the way, suddenly everything is not feeling good. There’s an irritation, annoyance, frustration, fear that has pushed in and taken over. And sometimes it’s the combination of little bits that are not love that join together to push me out of the love vibration: thought by thought, feeling by feeling. And it’s hard to be kind to myself, recognize whatever non-love bit it is that is now the over-riding presence, and move back to love. Love for self, love for all, love that is the All. And so, I forgive myself for any thoughts of blame, I forgive myself for the fear, I forgive myself for forgetting the All. I breathe into my heart, feel the presence of the angels and my guides, and am love.  

May you remember you are Love.

Namaste

Honoring the Divine in All Your Surroundings

Yesterday I had a conversation where the other person was talking about different animals and how smart or dumb they are…which led me to share this insight. As humans so many of us are only aware of the world from the perspective that humans are the best. Period. And that is not only a limiting view, it is very much about separation. I come from the perspective that each species here on this planet has a key role in the existence and survival of this whole organism of Gaia. We are here to be frogs, trees, lichen, preying mantises, whales, bacteria, etc. And acknowledging, respecting, and honoring each bit who/that makes up Gaia is not just about inclusion versus exclusion. It’s about being one. We are all Gaia. So while chickens are very smart…according to the human view of smart: able to do things like humans…is that the perspective we want to choose? Or do we want to choose to recognize the illusion of separation is just that, an illusion? With each breath, honor the divine in all that surrounds you, and slip into that space where edges are arbitrary lines that serve only to note the illusion, that space where you are no longer anyone but all of Gaia and beyond. I am not an ambassador to humans from the other animals, I am an ambassador of remembering what you know deep within you, the Lovelight of the All is all there is.  

Namaste

2 Free Classes in September

Greetings! With the changing of the seasons near, I am shifting my work focus to my Intuitive Energy Guide practice. And I have two free classes I’m offering for you to get a taste of the variety of work I offer. Both of these classes are more about you experiencing your energetic self, than they are lectures. While I will share some basic information, these classes are examples of what a session with me is actually like. As space is limited, please RSVP: call/text 434-249-9786 or email elizabethbain11@gmail.com – Thank you!

September 2, from 7pm-8pm

at the Crozet Library (Group Study Room)

Heart to Heart: Connect with Your 4-Legged Friend

Through guided meditation we will:

• Open to a new awareness of self and other
• Feel our way through the interweavings of self and other
• Move to a space beyond words and open to a new level of connection

September 9, from 7pm-8pm

at the Crozet Library (Group Study Room)

Clear Your Perspectives: Prepare for the New Season

Through guided meditation we will:

• Open to a new awareness of self
• Clear our perspectives in all directions
• Discover and open to the infinite possibilities that are always available

Moving in Transition

Life is not static. There are layers of life that move at different rhythms within your being and your world. At times of transition, when there is a big shift in those rhythms, finding a way to stay in balance and connected to this earth plane can be difficult. The farther along I move through this year, the clearer it is to me that this is a pivotal year for me in many ways. So, I'm in the middle of transition right now, and I thought I'd share some of the ways I'm finding balance in this ever shifting time. Having danced all of my childhood, then found hatha yoga, flexibility is something that has always been present in my realm. Often, flexibility is thought of only in terms of the physical body, but flexibility is a state of being. Flexibility is being in touch with the movement of energy, whether that is tangible in the physical body, or intangible in the form of thoughts, emotions, and patterns of relating and existing. Flexibility is being in touch with the elements you are, especially the water and wind, but also the fire, storm, and even the earth. There are rhythms everywhere and as change occurs, you can move your way through different rhythms to feel your way into the rhythms that suit you best in the moment.

So think of yourself as dancing through each moment, each breath even, and being aware of what feels good. Whether you want to actually dance around your room every day as you get going, or dance words through your being by singing or reading aloud words that resonate with you, do what feels good to you. Know that if you're uncomfortable, you can keep moving to find your way into a place more comfortable.

If dancing or singing/speaking doesn't feel like the rhythm for you, breathing exercises are something else to try. Alternate nostril breathing is an easy way to clear and balance yourself and only takes a few minutes and breathing which we all do.

As we near the summer solstice, there is plenty of light to draw in to support your transition. Focusing on the energy of the solstice, the changing angles of the earth to sun, provides added strength to your own changing angles.

Flexibility exists in each step, each thought, each emotion, each breath. And moving in transition is just one movement of the symphony that is your life. Smile, be gentle and kind with yourself.

Namaste

Cosmic Shifts

New moon, solar eclipse, and vernal equinox all happening today! If you're feeling overwhelmed today, take a few minutes to read through this guided meditation and be kind to yourself. At this halfway point between the longest night and longest day, settle into your heart.

From this vantage point looking in all directions and across all time, sweep the view clean with your gaze.

Breathe the power of the stars above, the planets, the sun eclipsed by the moon.

Feel the answering light within you shining brightly into the multiverse.

Listen closely for the voice deep within that speaks only the language of love, the voice calls your true name.

Hear your name and sing the song you are.

Breathe out all that no longer serves your true purpose.

Sing the song you are.

Join the celestial symphony and draw this music into your body and into your world.

Feel each note as it shifts your vibration.

Feel your light find a new balance.

Open to the All.

May you find ease in change,

may you find light in dark,

and may you find love.

Namaste

Finding Center

Here we are halfway through the month of March with a solar eclipse, new moon, and the vernal equinox all in the next week! All that planetary movement in a very short window of time...Friday is going to be a busy day in the universe. With all that dancing of planets, staying centered this month seems to be a bit of a challenge. In this human experience change is a constant, but we often look at it with a negative slant and end up tying all sorts of emotions to it, creating a tangled mess. Day to day life is often flying by at such a fast pace that we’re overwhelmed just trying to get through a day. There is support all around and even within, but we have to remember to pause, notice it, and feel it. Here’s a guided meditation to find some support.

Close your eyes and settle into your body, breathing comfortably, gently.

Feel your feet connected to the ground and feel that connection reach deep into the earth.

Feel yourself in a vertical pillar of white light connecting you to the earth below and your higher self above.

Breathe gently and allow your entire being to draw into alignment within this pillar of light. Feel the light not just surrounding you, but within your physical body.

Stay here, breathing in this place or state of alignment for a few moments and just feel all that is.

Comfortably supported in this alignment, feel and hear big March winds pouring through your being.

Whether they come from behind, in front, or the side, feel the power of these winds clearing all of your being.

These winds bring change, freshness, a new perspective.

And in this place or state of alignment, allow the change to be just that, change.

Stay here for a few moments just breathing, being.

Gently breathe back into your physical body in the now and notice how you feel. What is different? What is the same? No judging, just noticing. Know this is you as you are. Know that you can return to this whenever you need to.

In these busy times, be kind to yourself and others. As we hit the vernal equinox, feel the balance of dark and light and allow that balance into your whole being. And remember you are Light.

Namaste

In the Midst of the Ordinary

So often, in today's world, the special is celebrated to such an extent that the ordinary is ignored. The ordinary is where we really live. We breathe. We feel. We connect. The wind blows, the rain falls, the sun shines, the clouds billow. We eat. We sleep. We are. But instead of thinking of special and ordinary as two separate entities, what if we think of them as just two aspects of life, the whole? What if we leave that dualist thinking behind, shifting instead to the All? There is always change. While there are special points along the way that we use to denote the change, we don't have to focus on those markers. We can choose to focus on each moment. We can choose each moment. We can co-create. We are the change. So why do we even need those markers? They just detract from the moment.

So while you're drinking your morning coffee/tea, feel the mug in your hands, the hot beverage on your lips. Smell the aroma of the steam and feel it moisten your face. Feel the heat slide down inside you. Feel your feet on the ground. Choose gratitude for this human experience. Choose to smile, to shine.

While you're standing in line at the store, hear all the sounds surrounding you, the symphony of humanity. Feel the support of the earth below your feet, holding you up. Feel the light shining from within you. Choose gratitude for this human experience. Choose to share your light with this world.

In the midst of the ordinary, remember the magic that we are all One.

Namaste

New Year Full Moon

Last night the full-moon-deep-dark shadows danced across the fields as the big winds swept through. Full moons are a time of release. Wind is an element of clearing. The pairing of full moon and big winds is a powerful start to this new year. Yes, we are almost a week into the new year, but as with most points of change, there is a window around the actual point of change where we're adjusting. We exist in the space time continuum and thus we often experience change over time. Here's a brief meditation for bringing the new you into the now.

Close your eyes. Lean into the light of the full moon and the winds around you; trust there is support for you in every moment. Find that space of gratitude within you and allow it to connect with all that has made you who you are, past, present, and future. Breathe into your heart. Breathe gold light from over your head, breathe it down your body into the earth. Breathe brown light from the earth below, breathe it up your body to connect with the Source of the gold light overhead. Feel the shifting within as you come to a new balance, a new alignment. Pause for a moment and feel the new you. Smile and open your eyes gently.

We are barely into the new year and my practice is already changing. I have new rates starting February 1. And stay tuned for new services that I'll be sharing in the coming weeks. I, for one, am excited for this new year!

Namaste

Happy Solstice!

in the cloudy sky diffuse light this morningI walk feet planting me on the earth as pulses within and without all sync I reach deep inside and feel the light blossom filling me till I spill into the All shining ever brighter clearing away the debris drawing me into alignment opening me to the infinite

I call Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, Stone, Metal, Ether, Star I call Light--welcome, Light

May you find the light you are and may you shine brightly. Namaste

Short Days and Long Nights, Where Is the Light?

As the sun rises later and sets earlier all while moving farther to the south each day, I feel a pull inward and a pull downward. While I love other beings, I also love solitude. And I need that time alone to really be the me that I'm here to be. The longer nights allow me to curl into a book or into dreamland, to shift my journeys from time with others to time with myself which is ultimately time with Spirit. That is my pull inward. My pull downward is the Earth calling me to melt into my surroundings. To fall into the All. While these pulls lead me to the same space, the journey to get there is different and I love them both. With shorter days, it is easy to feel that darkness is taking over. But the night sky is full of tiny spots of light. I think of how far that light is traveling to enter not just my eyes but my whole being, and how we just have the one sun so bright during the day, but so many stars during the night. When I stand staring up, I feel the light that is me reaching out to those pinpricks of light across the night sky. I am not alone for I am not separate. We are all light.

Here's an exercise to try whether you're feeling harried, out of sorts, or want a reminder of your true self. Take five minutes after dark to step outside.

Close your eyes and breathe into your physical body. Feel the edges of your physical body. Notice any and everything in this moment. Feel your feet connected to the earth below you.

Gently open your eyes and scan the skies slowly, noticing the many, many stars. Notice just how much light there is in the darkness. Pick one star, pause, and feel the journey of the light across the universe to reach you.

Close your eyes and feel a spark of light within you, breathe into that light, making it bigger, until it fills your entire being and shines out of you in all directions. Feel the light from the star you picked still pouring into you as you shine your light. Feel that you are the star. You are light. Revel in the light you are.

Gently breathe back into your physical body. Feel your feet connected to the earth below. Feel the air supporting you. Slowly open your eyes and notice what is the same and what is different.

May the light you are shine brightly! Namaste

Autumn Special

Happy November!I'm running a special for the next two months at the great rate of $1/min.

Need to ground, clear, balance? Shifts in members of the multispecies family? Need focus and clarity on a specific issue? Practical skills for balance in the now. Here's your chance to start creating the new you for the new year!

Autumn Special 120 minutes for $120 (savings of $40) You Choose: 60 minute sessions or 30 minute sessions Not living in central Virginia? No worries, sessions are by phone or in person. Payment is made at time of first appointment. Sessions must be completed by Dec. 31st, 2014.

Full Moon Invocation

With the moon close to us and full, today is a wonderful day for releasing. New moons are for setting intentions and thus, setting the path for manifesting. Full moons are for letting go, shedding, and aligning. The energies of the universe have been shaking things up in a big way lately. Not just in schedules not going as planned or wacky synchronicities appearing, the internal landscape has been shaken, too. I’ve been almost stuck, rather still in a fashion that is vaguely unpleasant. Old stuff has been popping up, and the new me has been floating in stagnant water trying to find a current or even a footing.

My walks are like breathing for me at times like this. The same is never quite the same since it is always new in the now. Seeing the same lines of ridges in the mountains, hearing the same birds singing, feeling the same earth under each footstep, gives me a footing, a rhythm, a sense of connection, for at least part of each day. And it carries me through the day. Once I’ve experienced something it is always with me. I can reach out and pull it to me, and wrap it around me or sink back into it or breathe it when I need to. This summer has been one of expanding, and while the pace has not always been comfortable, trusting that the pace is right for me in the now has become a little easier each day.

This full moon feels like the culmination of some big lessons, and today is the day to choose to complete those lessons by releasing them. Here is my full moon invocation for all of us.

I call the Angels from the North I call the Birds from the South I call the Water Beings from the West I call the Faeries from the East I call the Crystals from the deepest earth I call the Stars from the farthest galaxies May we release that which does not server our higher purpose May we align with Spirit in the Now May we open to the All May we be the Light of Love

Namaste

New Class: Cultivating a Garden of Light

Join me for a new class!Cultivating a Garden of Light Four Thursdays 7-8pm May 15, May 22, May 29, June 5

This class will be mainly guided meditations. We will work with the moon cycle, the elements, the chakras as we head toward the solstice to cultivate a garden of light within you. Each week we will work with some new meditations and continue our practice of others. This is a wonderful way to deepen your understanding of your own energetics, to build and/or deepen your own practice of meditation, to cultivate your awareness of the light, to draw the light into your daily life. Whether you're looking for support staying in the now, manifesting, or new meditation experiences, join me for these explorations in light.

Cost: $60 Location: Downtown Charlottesville with parking

Please email me at elizabethbain11 gmail com to sign up or with any questions. Please share this with anyone you think might be interested.

A Garden of Light

Last week I got to see Philip Glass perform some of his own works at Old Cabell Hall at UVa. It was wonderful. He came across as funny and kind in his brief chats between the pieces. And his music is enchanting. To hear him play it on a grand piano in a venue dear to me was icing on the cake. It was a free event, open to the public, you just had to reserve tickets ahead of time. It sold out, as expected, and after waiting in line to get in, we chose the balcony for the shorter line and a bird's eye view. What stood out the most after the music and the man, was the fidgety factor of the audience. Yes, it was an eclectic crowd. No, they couldn't sit still. I was reminded how multi-task oriented our culture is these days. If one is listening to music, it is more than likely not just to listen to music. I do spend time just listening to music as it is one of my loves. And when I am listening to music to listen to music, I am still. Still in my body, still in my mind, with all my senses open to allow the music in. The phrase that has been stuck in my head since this concert is "cultivating stillness." This phrase is used all the time when talking about meditation. It is spring, the time of cultivating and growing: spinach, peas, strawberries, fox kits, hatchlings galore, tadpoles, and light. We have passed the equinox and are heading toward the solstice. So this is the perfect time to grow our garden of light. Beyond cultivating stillness, let's cultivate light. Breathe to draw the light into our bodies. Open all our senses to the light. Whether it's sad news, physical pain, the constant feeling of not enough (time, money, happiness, you name it), draw in the light. If it's joy, delight, endorphins rushing through the body, feeling the flow, draw in the light. It's what we're all made of. When we take the time to call it in, we shift into a different pattern, into the All. It is a different way of being. And since we're human beings, not human doings or human havings, let's give this way of being a whirl.

Enjoy your music. Enjoy your spring. Enjoy being. Namaste

Special Offer!

I'm offering HALF-PRICE sessions until the end of April.30 minute session: $20 60 minute session: $40 Sessions must occur and be paid for before the end of April. Check out my Services page for more information on my intuitive energy sessions and how to contact me to set up your session today!

Feminine Power

It may not quite be spring yet, but there is definitely the feel of spring in the air. Here in Virginia, we've had a bit of actual winter with 17" of snow falling in one fell swoop a couple of weeks ago and another 4 to start this week. Since then we've had the usual roller coaster ride of temperatures with the thermometer even reaching as high as 66 last weekend. But there is still snow tucked in the shady spots and on the northern slopes. It's that time of year and I've seen so many birds mating...bluebirds tumbling down a snowy hill, red-shouldered hawks busy in a tree, chickadees dancing with their wings splayed beautifully. I know where two active red-shouldered hawk nests are. And I discovered one active red-tailed hawk nest this week. I've also seen the fresh red dirt by the two entries to the former groundhog den that the red fox has renovated to make ready for her kits. In the natural world, spring is the time of the mother. The mother is definitely an important face of feminine power, but really it is just that, a face on an immense power that is beyond form. Sometimes in meditation there are these slivers of not-me that present themselves to my awareness. There are beings with faces I recognize as archetypes, there are beings I recognize as visitors from other realms with different energetic footprints. And there are powers who/that are beyond beings yet, from my existence as a being, I read them as still holding some essence of a being.

The times that feminine power has shown up for me have been varied. From specific meditations focused on feminine power to soothing assistance while working on self-healing to the great mothers of different animals appearing on my meditation walks. My experience of feminine power is as an energy that is woven within everything in the universe. Just as human DNA carries both the genes of the mother and the father, so too does all energy carry strands of feminine power and masculine power. I do not see the weavings of the universe so much as I know/sense them spatially.

The arms of feminine power are always open to all alike. The great mother loves all unconditionally, and is the power stretching up from within mother earth to hold us up when we can't stand anymore. The sisterhood is a tribe open to all who are dancing, whether gently or enthusiastically, to the rhythms of feminine power. The crone or wise woman is there to answer the call for the wisdom of the ages for everyone who asks.

While we often equate feminine with female, that is so limiting. We are all a magnificent, unique blend of both the feminine and the masculine. Outside of space and time, deep in the vibrations of sound and light, is the essence of One/All. This is not outside of us, but within each of us.

So here in this month celebrating women with March 8 as International Women's Day, the month that also heralds spring, breathe deep of the power that unites us all, and step forth in this dance of life knowing you are feminine power.

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the seed unfurls slowly steadily reaching for the light without as I reach for the light within gently breathing each strand brighter I grow ever larger ever smaller losing myself in the All

though there was never an I to lose

Namaste (This post was inspired by my friend Lisa over at MommyMystic asking for contributions on feminine power. Be sure to check out her collaborative post!)

Spring Cleaning Energy Class

I'm excited to announce that I'm offering a class to help prepare us for the new season. Spring is right around the corner, even if it is rather chilly and white outside today (in Central Virginia, anyway). This class will be a mixture of information on energy, the chakras, and the elements, along with guided meditations to clear, ground, and balance ourselves energetically. I'm offering the class two different times: Thursday March 13th from 7pm-8pm, and Saturday March 15th from 9:30am-10:30am. The cost for the class is $15. As we will be sitting for an hour, please wear comfortable clothing. If you would like to sign up or have any questions, please contact me at elizabethbain11 [at] gmail [dot] com. (I am spelling it out here to limit spam.) This will be an in person class, but if there's interest, I may offer a tele-class in the future.Namaste

Changing Time and Leaving Time

Last week I took the train to DC for a quick trip to visit my brother. Our plans were to walk and see birds, and that is exactly what we did. For mid January, the weather was mild and there was plenty of sunshine. And there were birds everywhere. One afternoon we walked miles along the Potomac stopping to enjoy the changing view of water, sky, birds, land. The colors shifting on the water as the tide moved in were magnificent. The sky blue, blue, blue. And the birds, oh the birds my feathered friends, so many of them. We saw great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, golden-crowned kinglets, lesser scaups, common and hooded mergansers, red-throated loon, American coot, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, cooper's hawk, red-shouldered hawk, bald eagles, Canada geese, black ducks, mallard ducks. There were more, but those were the highlights. When I walk right down by a large body of water with no high land close, I feel the size of the earth in a so-open-as-to-almost-feel-the-earth's-curve sort of way. With cars flying by not that far away, trains in the distance speeding up the tracks, strolling along the river slows down time. It's not just that you're moving at a different speed, a slower speed than most everything around you. You are actually changing time. We seem to think of time as a commodity, and in our culture it's always a scarce commodity. I like to think of time as just another strand of reality available for weaving any which way we can manage to weave it. So when I'm grounded, centered in my heart, and being (rather than doing), I can breathe hold of that strand of time and stretch it out so the weaving is big and open, and there's a whole new way of existing and experiencing. A place outside of time really.

After our long walk by the river, we stopped at an overlook. We were just sitting in the car looking down a grassy slope through a few trees to the water. There were some Canada geese on the bank and more in the water. Suddenly out of the bushes to our right came two red foxes at high speed, one chasing the other. The geese were startled and their reaction was delayed, flapping and honking as they flew down to the water. The foxes were perhaps 20 yards in front of us, quite close really, and they raced off to our left disappearing into a wooded area. The whole thing happened in a matter of seconds, those foxes were flat out running. Yet it was as if we had created a bubble around us with the foxes and geese in it, and left time behind to be fully in the moment. The first fox was missing some hair at the end of her/his tail. Their tongues were hanging out, feet dancing over the earth, tails flying straight behind them. We could see their hair move with each foot step. We carried on a conversation of mostly exclamations as we absorbed the experience. A high speed chase in mid mating season, a small piece of the dance. And all this happened outside of time. We wove a hole in reality and stepped away from time into being.

Lately there are messages everywhere that remind me to be, just be. And I notice that when I'm being, that's when everything feels aligned. Just be. And the All is right there, in you. Just be. Change time or leave it behind. Just be.

Namaste